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The "Summer 2007" book measured Edmonton radio audiences from July 2nd to 15th and July 30th to August 26th. Weekly audience numbers are up 25,500 to 1,642,000 from 1,616,500.

Two words: reality check.

For some stations the previous ratings period was the best news they've had in years; for others it was their worst. Those who put too much stock in the "oddball" period got grounded pretty quickly when the Summer book came out.

"I've been kicking around this game for 30-odd years and it seems that every time there's a ratings survey, there's something that doesn't add up," Corus honcho Doug Rutherford said reacting to the late spring/early summer book.

Rutherford can now relax as all the ducks seemed to have lined up where they should be.

CHED - 11.9 (last book 12.3) came out on top with the certainty of summer rain. What isn't certain is the impact of the departure of morning man Gord Whitehead just five days before the midyear survey ended. With a promising Oilers lineup and the fate of the Eskimos at hand, the veteran Corus leader should have no problem in securing another success in the Fall book ahead.

CFBR - The Bear - 11.6 (7.7) jumped back from the puzzling late spring/early summer book with the best-improved performance of the current survey – the 11.6 share of audience is the station's strongest showing ever. The news gets better when the demographics are plumbed: in the male 25-54 profile The Bear snagged a 19.9 share (compared to CHED's 9.5) and in the male 18-34 category The Bear commanded a 35.8 share – a third of the market. New ops manager Ryan Zimmerman must now be sleeping easy with the station's second place finish (and audience gain of 63,600 listeners).

CFMG - EZ Rock - 8.4 (7.7) is also sleeping easy after being returned to the "still to be reckoned with" plateau. The station leads in the female 25-54 demo with an 18.1 (up from 12.8), slightly besting JOE-FM's 16.4, with the pair leaving the rest of the market far behind.

CKNG - Joe FM - 8.2 (8.7) provides their Corus owner with a consistent performer. The station has been in the top five for the past ten books and does well in the 25-54 age bracket (scoring the aforementioned 16.4 for women and 9.9 for men).

CIRK - K-Rock - 7.5 (4.1) is the surprise for media watchers, and rumours of the station's death have turned out a little premature. The Newcap outlet seems to have recovered from its tenth-place and sub-5 share ratings – and doing it without the help of once-long gone Terry Evans and recently-booted Steve Zimmerman.

Replacing Zimmerman early in the survey period was Ross McLeod, recently of Q107 in Toronto. McLeod grabbed the station some much-needed positive spin by taking a spin on the ferris wheel at Capital Ex for seven hours straight (raising $4,000 for Kids With Cancer).

Just as the Summer book was ending, K-Rock embarked on an unusual faux grassroots ad campaign that led up to the return of Terry Evans. Along with some tweaking with the playlist and on-air line up, K-Rock may close in on territory recently claimed by The Bear (the station did well with males 25-54, pulling a 13.5 share).

And given that during the summer period K-Rock's audience numbers had returned to pre-Terry Evans loss numbers, what the hell was happening in the Newcap braintrust to cause such panic? Seems that something suddenly not broken just got fixed.

CHDI - Sonic FM - 6.3 (8.0) was one of several stations that fell prey to the anomalies of the previous book. Dropping from their all-time high, Sonic returned to the familiar sixth-place territory it has enjoyed since signing on in April 2005. The station's slip may have been due to "The CBC Effect" – see below.

CISN - 6.3 (5.6) bounced back a bit but still showed signs of the demise of the country audience. Although listener numbers are up almost 35,000 to 133,400, it wasn't enough to offset The Bear's survey-skewing achievement.

CHBN - The Bounce - 6.0 (6.5) remains stuck in its urban groove (make that Mix 96's old haunts). The addition of midday host Adam McKale just before the survey period began, and a new music director – ex-Vancouver hot shot Russell James (of Z95 Vancouver, Jack-FM Toronto, and The Beat Vancouver fame) early in the period hasn't caused a major change – yet.

Issues of ownership at The Bounce were cleared up as on April 30th, 2007 the CRTC approved the acquisition of CHUM Ltd. (the station's former owners) by CTVglobemedia.

CFCW - 5.7 (3.1) also benefitted from the Summer survey correction, roping in an additional 22,000 listeners. The station may see a future in becoming more "urban" as evidenced in the announcement of airborne traffics reports coming injust as summer turned to fall.

CBX - CBC Radio One - 4.7 (9.8) – ouch! While the public broadcaster never enjoyed a better book, it has likely never suffered a worse loss. Media-savvy folk were all over the late spring/early summer book, pointing to CBC's spectacular second-place performance as an indicator that the numbers were all haywire.

One theory put forth was that an unusually high number of listener diaries came in from the Strathcona district (known for its high concentration of trendy retail outlets). The same theory was supposed to explain the popularity of Sonic FM (see above). The return of CBC to tenth-place (slightly below their usual showing) should put free-thinking right-wingers at ease.

CHQT - Cool 880 - 3.3 (2.1) shows that a 50% increase in audience (to 63,300) has only a marginal effect at the lower end of the ratings scale. The best news for the station came just after the end of the survey period: some creative types at Corus thought it was time that they tried something new ... by resurrecting something old.

With the return of Gord Robson, the former "Market That Matters" station is fashioning itself into "Boss Radio," a format popular in the sixties when Top 40 was king of the airwaves (for more about the style visit the Wikipedia entries for Boss Radio and Bill Drake, the format's creator).

With CHED host Lesley Primeau now installed as music director (she was heard all over the Corus building shouting "Anybody got some old CDs?"), one of the Boss Radio elements the station is trying to replicate is "20/20 News" (twenty minutes before and after the hour) which allows Bob Layton and Ed Mason to shoehorn newscasts inbetween their duties down the hall.

However, Bob and Ed's attempt at capturing the 20/20 News sound (listen here – courtesy of RadioWest.ca) pales to what the guys at CKLW did to news in the late sixties/early seventies (listen here – courtesy of Rock Radio Scrapbook). For more about the legend of The Big 8 - CKLW, visit this Wikipedia entry.

Tim Schutz, displaced by Robson's return to Edmonton, moved down the QE2 to Roger's JACK-FM outlet in Calgary where he now holds down the post of music director. Time will tell if Boss Radio will deliver the goods for the Corus conundrum that CHQT has been for years.

CHMC - Magic 99 - 3.0 (3.7) seems to have slid back to old habits in twelfth spot. Saskatchewan-based owners Rawlco Communications must be wondering what it will take to get their station anywhere close to the numbers demographic rival EZ Rock attains. Perhaps a more ear-grabbing playlist (which is currently as exciting as Rick Moranis doing Perry Como singing "Staying Alive") would help matters out.

CBX FM - CBC Radio 2 - 2.8 (5.3) – see CBX Radio One above.

CKRA - Big Earl - 2.7 (2.0) saw a marginal but hardly inspiring increase. Late-breaking news suggests "somebody new" will soon join morning hosts Tera Lee Flaman and Greg Shannon, but who knows what sort of talent Earl's numbers would entice? A former truck driver?

CFRN - The Team - 1.8 (1.2) showed a loss of listener numbers but a gain in the radio standings. Often critised for its lack of local programming, the station may be able to build around their picking up of WHL Edmonton Oil King broadcasts. Edmonton native A.J. Jakubec has been spirited away from Team 1200 Ottawa (where he helped call Ottawa 67 games) to do the play-by-play for the Oilers' junior team.

CFCW FM - CAM FM - 0.1 (0.0) apparently had one listener return a BBM diary.

For more detailed data about the Summer 2007 book, read the Bureau of Broadcast Measurement report (opens as a .pdf). General demographic data can be seen in this snapshot taken from Broadcaster Magazine.

Next up is the all-important Fall book (by which advertising rates are set). It is being sampled September 3rd to October 28th, with a release date set for December 3rd. Stay tuned.

radio - edmonton ratings archives - summer 2007